Innocence Long Gone
by megtries
Summary: When the Avengers are turned into children, all varying in ages, somehow Coulson and Hill are left in charge of them. This turns out to be more of a challenge then they thought. It is both physically and mentally exhausting, and some of the kids are the exact opposite of what they would expect. Includes: Kidnapping, references to child abuse, a teddy bear, and a babysitting spider.
1. Chapter 1

Fury walked into the medical wing, looked at the 6 beds with kids aged 5-12, then walked out. How this had become his life, he didn't know. All he did know was that somehow, some weird super villain thought it would be a good idea to turn the Avengers into kids. Ha ha, so funny. Except now SHIELD was in charge of taking care of 6 confused and scared kids. That villain would be lucky if all he got was life in SHIELD's prison. The doctors were doing their best to explain to the kids what happened, where they were, and where their parents were. Agent Hill and Agent Coulson were now in charge of the children.

"Where's my mom you jerks!?" Guess who asked that? No, not Tony, not Clint, not even Natasha, Bruce, or Thor. No, it was Steve. Captain America, at 9 years old, was throwing a giant fit. "Where am I?! Help! Kidnappers!" Coulson sighed.

"For the 5th time, Steve, we aren't kidnappers. If you would shut up then we could explain where you are!" Steve tried once again to get out of the bed, but the three doctors plus Coulson held him down. Unfortunately, the kids were deaged, so they still had their powers.

"You shut up! Let me go!"

"You time travelled, okay? You're in a secret spy place, in New York! The war is over, you helped America win!" That made him stop his struggling and smile.

"I did? I won the war!?" Coulson nodded. "Cool! I'm awesome!" Meanwhile, Hill was checking on Bruce.

"But where are my parents?" The 5 year old kid asked, way more calmly.

"We're in the future, so a lot has changed Bruce." He looked like he was going to cry.

"Are they dead?" Agent Hill hesitated.

"Oh, no! They are just... on a very special mission. They left you with us."

"So, you guys are like my baby sitters? You're going to take care of me?" Hill nodded. "Okay." She sighed. Well, 2 down, 4 to go.

After Coulson finished with Steve, he went over to Thor.

"Bring me to my parents you fools, or feel the wrath of Odin!"

"Thor, do you know about time travel and midgard?"

"Why yes, of course, as the age of 12 is reached, we are given all knowledge of the realms and their time functions."

"Okay, good. You are on midgard right now, in the future." He seemed to think on this new information.

"That makes a lot of sense. Thank you good sir."

"Yeah, no problem Thor." Hill visited Natasha next while Coulson visited Clint. Natasha was being a perfect child, letting them do their tests.

"Hi Nat." hill said.

"Hello ma'am. I just wanted to let you know that I could kill you all in a matter of 20 seconds and not blink an eye, but something is clearly not right here, so I would like to be made aware of the circumstances before doing anything drastic." Hill didn't know whether to laugh, smile, cry, or run.

"Well, right now it's 2016. Adult you was made little again by an evil villain. You become a hero when you grow up." Natasha's face stayed still, not showing any emotion.

"I become a hero, so I get out of the red room?" The 10 year old asked.

"Yes, and you save a lot of people."

"Good."

"Any more questions?"

"No ma'am." Clint was not having any of it though.

"I swear man, I will shove a spoon up your butt. Tell me what's going on and don't tell me this time travel stuff." The 11 year old threatened and Coulson sighed.

"It _was_ time travel, Clint."

"Yeah, no. I think you kidnapped me. I'm an orphan, so good luck with getting ransom."

"We didn't kidnap you, okay? We….. the orphanage it… it gave you to us."

"You adopted me?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go with that."

"I still wanna shove a spoon up your butt."

"I wanna shove a spoon up his butt too!" Steve yelled from across the room, and Bruce and Thor laughed. Next they both went over to Tony, who was sitting with his legs crossed on the bed, his hands on his lap as the medics checked on his arc reactor.

"Hi Tony. How are you feeling?" Hill asked him.

"I'm fine Ma'am. Thank you. How are you?" She laughed.

"I'm okay Tony, thanks." The doctors finished checking him over and he put his shirt back on.

"All the other kids were asking about their parents. Aren't you wondering Tony?" Coulson asked and he shifted his position a little.

"No, that's okay. They aren't around much anyway. 'Instead of saying "I don't have time" try saying "it's not a priority," and see how that feels' That's from the Wall Street Journal."

"Okay… Are you wondering where you are?"

"Well, if I may say, sir?"

"Go ahead kiddo."

"Well, I know that you have been telling the other kids that we time traveled, but I don't believe that, sorry sir, ma'am."

"That's okay. Do you wanna tell us what you think?" They expected something cute and made up from the 7 year old, but instead they got…

"I think that we were deaged. We obviously are not where and when we were before, but it wasn't time travel. I definitely did not have this… reactor, I guess. Yeah, this is an arc reactor, right?" They nodded. "Yeah, well I didn't have it when I went to bed last night, so the only possibility is either you guys put it in, but the scarring indicates it's been like this for awhile. The technology is very advanced here, I assume we're in the early 2000s, maybe sometime from 2015 to 2020. 'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.'" He was silent for awhile. "Am I right? Sorry sir, that's probably wrong." He looked down, almost as though he was ashamed.

"No, Tony, you're absolutely right. You and the other kids were deaged."

"Sir, may I ask you about grown up me?"

"Sure."

"Am I really smart?"

"Yeah, you're one of the smartest people I know." Hill answered.

"Am I successful? Are people proud of me?"

"Yes, of course, you run Stark Industries."

"Okay." He finished, seeming content with what was going on.

"Tony, don't you wanna know anything else? You could ask about your social life, you have a girlfriend, or what college you went to?"

"No, being smart and successful. That's all that matters ma'am." They would have asked more, but Steve ran over to them.

"I'm bored!" Clint ran up behind him.

"I'm bored too! Let's do something fun!" Coulson sighed.

"How about we go back to future you's home."

"Is there fun stuff there?'

"Yeah, loads of it."

"Awesome! Let's go!" They ran out of the room, Coulson following them as fast as he could with Thor. Agent Hill stayed back with Tony, Bruce, and Natasha.

"So, what are your favorite colors?" She asked after a long awkward silence on the way to the jet that would take them to Stark tower.

"Blue!" Bruce said excitedly. None of the other kid's answered.

"Mine is yellow, what's yours, Natasha?" She prompted.

"Green."

"Tony?"

"It's grey ma'am." It was awkwardly silent again.

"What's everyone's favorite food?"

"Mac and cheese!" Bruce yelled. Again, no one else responded.

"Tony, Natasha?"

"I like pizza, ma'am." Tony said quietly.

"Pizzas good." Natasha agreed.

"Maybe we'll get some later." Tony looked up excited.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure Tony."

"Thank you, ma'am." They got to the jet and they all walked in to find Steve, Thor, and Clint all running around. Bruce ran over and joined them in a game that apparently was supposed to be tag.

"Tony and Natasha, why don't you go sit down and buckle up while I get the other kids?" They both muttered 'yes ma'am' and went to sit down in the blue seats of the small airplane-like jet. One by one the other kids went and sat down. They decided to split up the kids, but the younger ones still needed supervision. Agent Hill sat with Bruce, Agent Coulson sat with Steve (who was an avid trouble maker), Thor sat with Tony, and Natasha sat with Clint. Finally they were ready to go.

"Where's the pilot?" Steve asked.

"Hello, I will be your pilot today. Please prepare for lift off." Tony suddenly sat up.

"Jarvis?!"

"Yes sir?" He laughed.

"Jarvis, you're real! You work!"

"Indeed sir. It is good to see you again at this young age."

"I guess I finally got the voice to work, huh?"

"Yes, I have grown a lot since you first made me." Coulson turned around in his seat confused.

"Wait, how old were you when you made Jarvis?"

"It was last year. Well, last year for me. I was 6."

"Wow, that's amazing kid." He looked down, shy.

"Yeah, I guess."

"It was quite spectacular, sir."

"Jeez J, call me Tony."

"Sir, you have trying to get me to call you Tony since you made me."

"I know." He said with a devious grin.

"I would also like to let you know that Dum-e and You are awaiting your return."

"Wait, what? Dum-e and You still work!?"

"Yes sir, although they have had some upgrades."

"How does that kid know the pilot?" Steve asked Coulson, who didn't know how to explain the AI. Luckily, Tony did.

"He's a robot. Sort of. Jarvis is an AI, an artificial intelligence, meaning he can learn. He used to be only on my laptop, but my original plan was that he could get on any electronic device."

"That plan succeeded, sir." Tony laughed.

"I don't get it." Bruce said and the rest of the team agreed. Steve was most confused by everything because he grew up in a much earlier time than everyone else.

"That's okay." Tony said a little disappointed.

"It's super cool though." Clint sprung in to cheer him up. Tony smiled back.

"Really?"

"I agree. It's impressive." Thor added. Tony looked down blushing and mumbled thank you. He spent the rest of the plane ride smiling to himself quietly, occasionally asking Jarvis questions that nobody else paid attention to, while the others talked about random things such as their favourite animals, games, and sports. The jet finally landed on the landing pad at the tower. They all shuffled out and headed inside. As they walked in, the lights turned on.

"How did the lights know we were here?" Thor asked.

"Jarvis, right?" Tony answered.

"Indeed sir. I control everything in the tower."

"Wow, you got him to do that, Tony?" Clint asked in awe.

"Nerd." Steve laughed.

"Steven!" Agent Hill yelled, but Tony only smiled.

"Thanks."

"I insulted you, you weirdo! Why would you thank me!"

"You called me a nerd, which means you think I'm smart. Jarvis told me that some guy named John Green said 'Why is being a nerd bad? Saying I notice you're a nerd is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid.'"

"Well then, I… I changed my mind. You're an anti-nerd. Your dumb. And stupid."

"Steve! Apologize to Tony right now!" Coulson yelled.

"No, it's okay." Tony mumbled as he looked down.

"No, it's not. Steve, you're a jerk, say sorry to Tony." Natasha replied calmly, defending the little boy she had grown a little attached to.

"Fine. Sorry." He grumbled. "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too." Clint said.

"You said we could get pizza, can we get it?"

"Surely Master Bruce. I'll go order it. Meanwhile, I believe Ms. Potts had stopped by briefly to fill the common area with toys for you to play with." Jarvis answered, and Tony smiled at his voice. The kids either walked or ran down the lit hallway to the living room area, which was filled with paper, coloring books, crayons, Legos, even a Nerf bow and arrow. Steve, Clint, Bruce, and Thor all raced to grab the play things while Natasha and Tony held back a little bit. Assuming the kids would be occupied and the two outsiders would eventually join in, the adults went into the kitchen.

"The doctors said that the effects should wear off in a few days. Until then we just have to watch over them. It shouldn't be any different from when they were adults. They pretty much acted like children anyway." Coulson said, which sparked their conversation about how they got stuck with these jobs. Meanwhile, the kids were having fun.

"I wanna play with the- ow! Clint stop shooting me!- I wanna play with the Legos!" Steve yelled as he tugged the box away from Thor.

"No!" Clint yelled from where he was jumping from sofa to sofa with the bow and arrow. "Thor had the Legos first. Go draw something! Don't worry dude, I'll avenge you!" Oh, the irony. Thor finally ripped the Legos back and Steve sulked away.

"Fine." He walked over to the table where Bruce was coloring. He was halfway through coloring a red dinosaur when Clint hoped on the table, causing him the draw a long and bold red line through the middle of his masterpiece.

"Hey! I'm going to get you you meanie head!" Clint spun in a circle on the table while sticking his tongue out then hopped off and ran around the room, randomly firing Nerf arrows while Steve chased him. While rounding the corner of the room, Clint tripped over Thor's Lego police station, causing it to crumble and himself to be sprawled on the floor. Steve, being a fast runner, ran right over him, kicking him in the head and nosediving into the spot where Tony had been standing at attention, as though waiting for instructions. Coulson and Hill walked in as the two of them fell to the ground, making Steve start to cry. Thor looked really mad, Clint looked worried, and Tony just looked shy like usual as the super soldier lay bawling on top of him.

"Thor, I'm real sorry about your Legos. I didn't mean to, I promise. I'll help you fix them?" Thor's anger softened as the younger boy apologized.

"No, that is okay. I understand that it was an accident. Are you alright?" Meanwhile, the agents ran over to Tony and Steve and lifted the boy off the 7 year old.

"Are you two alright?"

"No!" Steve cried dramatically as Tony nodded yes while covering up his bleeding nose. While Steve looked fine, Tony was obviously injured.

"Let's go clean you up Tony."

"Yes sir. Sorry."

"That's alright." They went into the kitchen leaving Agent Hill to deal with the rest of the kids. She finally calmed Steve down and sat him down on the sofa while she checked on Clint, he was holding his arm.

"Is your arm alright there, kid?" He shrugged.

"It's fine, I just landed on a Lego, that's all. Could I have some ice?"

"Yeah, let's go to the kitchen. Thor, watch Steve and Bruce for a minute?" He nodded. They waked into the kitchen to find Tony sitting on the counter while Coulson nabbed his nose with a towel. Hopefully it wasn't broken. Luckily Jarvis was there to ease their concerns.

"Sirs nose will heal soon. It has already started to clot."

"Thanks Jarvis." Hill said as she grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and handed it to Clint. "So, what happened?"

"I was playing with the bow and arrow and I hopped up on the table like a ninja, but I messed up Steve's picture so he started chasing me and then I tripped over the Legos and then Steve tripped over me and fell into Tony." She turned to said 7 year old.

"Is that what happened Tony?" He nodded.

"Yes ma'am." Finally his nose stopped bleeding, but it was all over his shirt.

""Clint, can you go out into the other room and see if there's some spare clothing that will fit you guys?"

"Sure." He came back a few minutes later with a small iron man shirt. "This was the only one that would fit him. Who's Iron Man?" Meanwhile, Tony was gaping at it.

"That's the suit."

"You recognize this Tony?" He nodded slowly.

"I… I drew a design just, just last week."

"I thought Tony didn't build the Iron Man suit until Afghanistan?" Hill whispered to Coulson a little too loudly.

"Wait, I build it? I actually build Iron man? But the designs… Father, he….." They looked at him confused.

"What did your dad do to them?" He looked around the room.

"He burned them." Before they could ask why they heard yells from the other room. Clint helped Tony down from the counter and they all ran in.

"Give it back you baby!" Steve yelled in Bruce's face, who was starting to look a little green.

"No! I want it!" He screamed back. He held the blue crayon behind him and out of Steve's reach.

"Share it!" Thor yelled over them.

"Give it you freak!"

"Back off jerk head!" Steve shoved the 5 year old, and chaos ensued. Bruce started to growl and yell as he transformed from his small body into the size of about a bulky 14 year old.

"Hulk no like you!" He roared in Steve's face, who yelped and ran over to Thor. Thor stood in front of the kid to protect him and tried to calm the Hulk down.

"It's alright, big one. We are all friends here."

"Hulk no want friends!" he screamed at Thor and ran forward. Clint ran over and grabbed Steve, getting him out of danger's way while Thor began to wrestle the giant ball of rage. Coulson and Hill didn't know how to help without someone getting hurt, so they both ran back in the kitchen to question Jarvis about any tranquilizers in the tower. Natasha ran over to stand by Tony and make sure he didn't get hurt. The Hulk threw Thor across the room, causing him to hit Clint and Steve, sending all three on the ground. Hulk started to pick up the small chairs that were surrounding the kids table and throw them at either the huddled group of Clint, Thor, and Steve or Natasha and Tony. Natasha grabbed Tony and ducked him in front of her, turning her back to the monster and guarding the kid. Hulk ran out of chairs and started to march slowly towards Steve, which he remembered was the reason he was mad in the first place. Tony, sensing the danger the other children were in, wiggled out of Natasha arms and crawled over to the tv remote that was laying on the ground. He began to take it apart, ripping wires and connecting them to batteries. The Hulk reached Steve and began to pick him up by his foot, leaving the kid dangling upside down screaming. Thor and Clint tried to attack him, but he just swatted them away.

"Hey! Weird green dude! Over here, ugly!" Tony stood up and shouted and everyone stared at him. Hulk dropped Steve and roared at Tony, beginning to run at him. He picked up Tony and threw him at the wall, but not before Tony could taze him using the home-made tazer he had built out of the remote. Coulson and Hill ran in with the sedative as Tony hit the wall and the Hulk crumpled to the ground, twitching. Natasha, Clint, and Hill ran over to Tony as Thor and Coulson ran up to Steve, making sure both kids were okay. Tony had hit the wall pretty hard, but he was insisting he was fine, not even crying. Steve seemed to be in shock, tears streaming down his face. Slowly, the Hulk shrunk back down to Bruce, who was out cold.

"What happened?! Is everyone okay?" Agent Hill asked.

"I-I didn't m-mean to! I just w-wanted the blue crayon!" Steve sobbed while hugging Thor.

"As long as no one was hurt it's okay. _Is_ anyone hurt?" They all shook their heads, Tony looking pretty ruffled but like before he insisted that he was fine.

"Do you guys want to watch a movie?" Coulson suggested to ease the tension in the room. A couple of them nodded but most just stood or sat quietly. They went over to the large sofa and immediately began arguing over who sat with who.

"I want to sit with the red headed girl. She's cool." Clint said.

"I want to sit with the smart kid. He saved me!"

"He saved everyone, Steve. I'm sitting with him." Natasha said. It was then that Coulson and Hill realised that the kids didn't even know each other's names.

"How about we go around and officially introduce each other first?" Hill suggested. "I'm Ms. Hill."

"I'm ."

"I am Thor."

"Steve!" Everyone already knew that.

"I'm Clint."

"Natasha." It was quiet for awhile.

"Everyone, that's Bruce." Hill said. She looked at Tony, who was glancing around nervously.

"Um, most people call me Anthony, but I would rather be called Tony instead, if that's okay?"

"Tony it is then." Coulson said.

"I want to sit with Tony!" Steve yelled.

"I'm sitting with him."

"I want to sit with him too!" Coulson looked to the kid.

"Who do you want to sit with, Tony?"

"Can I sit with Bruce?" He answered shyly.

"Ew, why? He tried to hurt us!" Steve yelled.

"Well, I think he will be upset when he wakes up and I want to be there for him." He said calmly.

"That's really sweet Tony. Okay, so Bruce can sit on the end, then Tony, then let's do Natasha, Clint, Thor, and finally Steve." They all agreed and went to sit down.

"Can we watch 'The Wizard of Oz'?" Steve asked.

"No, let's watch 'Jaws'!" Clint yelled.

"No, Bruce will get scared at 'Jaws'." Tony said politely.

"Let's watch Mad Max." 10 year old Natasha asked.

"What's that?" Clint asked the same time Hill sighed "No, Natasha."

"What year were you all born?" Coulson asked, confused about the different ranges of movies.

"1971." Clint said.

"1920."

"1970 sir." Tony replied.

"1984." Natasha answered.

"9980 B.C.." They all stared at Thor.

"That's not true!" Steve yelled. "That's not even a thing!"

"It is to!" Thor yelled back.

"It doesn't matter, guys." Tony told them. "Stop fighting. It's bad."

"But he's lying, right?" Clint asked. Tony shrugged.

"Maybe, but maybe not, so you can't just start fighting about it. We'll get in trouble and everyone will be mad." He said matter of factly. "I think we should watch the 'Wizard of Oz', like Steve said, because at least we all know what that is, besides Thor. It's good though, you'll like it. Is that okay ma'am?" She nodded.

"That's a great idea, thanks guys. Jarvis, can you put it on?" The movie started and about five minutes in the pizza arrived, each child took a slice or two and continued watching. Within the first 10 minutes, Tony was asleep. Coulson debated whether or not to take a picture of the two scientist next to each other, Bruce curled in a ball with his head under Tony's shoulder and Tony's arm wrapped protectively around the younger boy. They were like brothers, and anyone would guess that they were, both about the same size and with dark black hair. Half way through the movie, all the kids were asleep, each one leaning on another and not a single one disconnecting from the pile. Natasha and Tony's arms were linked, Clint was leaning against the girl with his feet thrown over Thor, who had his arm in a hug around Steve. They all wore the same white shield shirt and black pants except for Tony, his red iron man shirt the only color on the black sofa. It was all peaceful until about ¾ into the movie when Tony jolted awake with a short yell, waking not only Bruce, but Natasha who, in turn, shook Clint, waking him as well, causing him to kick Steve in the face accidentally, also waking Thor. Tony scrambled off the sofa, looking around frantically. When he realised that it was only a dream and all his new friends were staring at him groggily, he got up and ran into the kitchen, only to find Coulson and Hill sitting at the table.

"Hey Tony, what's wrong buddy?" Tony took a step back, looking down at his bare feet.

"Sorry Sir, I just had a bad dream. It won't happen again." Coulson stood up and went over to the boy, who flinched. He gently knelt down and put a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. Everyone gets bad dreams, it's nothing to be sorry for." Tony looked up at him with tears in his eyes, and he took another step back, wiping his face.

"Sorry sir."

"What are you apologizing for Tony? Crying? It's okay to cry when you're scared." He shook his head fast.

"Starks don't cry. 'Deep in earth my love is lying and I must weep alone.'"

"Tony, it's perfectly alright to cry. Who told you that?"

"Father he said, well… 'What is the point of crying when there is a no one there to comfort you?' Father said that crying is just annoying. That is bothers him and I can't bother Father, I'll get in trouble. He says that Starks don't cry, because there is no one there for us, there is no hope for us, and crying doesn't change anything." Coulson hugged him in a tight embrace and Tony stiffened. "What.. what are you doing?"

"I'm comforting you Tony. So now you can cry." Still, Tony didn't relax.

"Sir, I haven't cried in 3 years."

"You like quotes, Tony?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've used two quotes in the last couple of sentences, so do you like quotes?"

"Yes, yes sir." Coulson cleared his throat.

"'There you go...let it all slide out. Unhappiness can't stick in a person's soul when it's slick with tears.'" Tony grinned a little against Coulson's shoulder and finally sunk into the hug. They stayed like that for a little bit then Tony broke out, tears down his face from when he was sobbing.

"Do you want to tell us what the dream was about?" Hill said.

"Nothing….just, I can't sleep very well a lot of the time. Usually I have my bear, but it's not here so-"

"I believe I can order a bear, sir. The one you had as a child is still in market." Jarvis interrupted.

"Really?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's Tony Jarvis."

"Whatever you say sir. The bear should arrive in approximately 20 minutes."

"Thanks Jarvis." Hill said, glad they could help the troubled kid. She thought back to earlier. "Hey Tony, remember when you told us that Howard burned your plans for Iron Man? Why did he do that?"

"Oh, because he was busy and mad and it wasn't good enough. I wasn't a hero, he said. There's only one hero America needs and he died in the sea. But that's okay. It happens, ma'am." He said it as though it was a casual thing that his father did to him.

"Tony, are you okay?" Bruce said, stepping into the room.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry for waking you guys up." Clint walked in behind him.

"Hey Tones, it's okay." Soon enough the rest of the kid were in the room too.

"What happened?" Steve asked.

"I had a bad dream."

"I get those too." Clint said, shuddering. "They're the worst. I always have them about my dad, is that was yours was about?" Tony nodded slowly.

"Why would you have bad dreams about your dads? I never met mine, but my mom always said he was awesome. Weren't your dad's awesome?" Steve asked innocently, not knowing how someone could not love their fathers.

"Yeah, my dad was awesome, awesome at beating me-" Coulson glared at him, hinting that he shouldn't talk about such topics in front of little kids "'- at checkers. He always beat me at checkers, and he was a sore loser too." The kids all smirked except for Tony, who was a genius and knew what Clint was going to say. "Did your dad ever beat you at checkers Tony?" He nodded, staring at Clint with a new-found respect and understanding. "Yeah, well I have bad dreams all the time about my dad beating me at checkers, so you're not alone." Hill and Coulson looked at the two, horrified at their fathers.

"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams." Tony said quietly.

"What? What does that mean?" Steve demanded.

"It means that nightmares are the horrors of life that we make into dreams."

"And your horrors of life…. were losing at checkers." Steve deadpanned.

"Yup." Clint said with a goofy grin and the two stared at each other. Steve finally looked away.

"Whatever. Weirdos."

"I'm hungry." Bruce announced. They pulled out the extra pizza from the fridge and didn't even bother to heat it up, they just ate it cold until Jarvis announced that the bear had arrived. The elevator opened, revealing a small bear with blue fur and white stars, holding a circular plush shield with red and white rings and blue in the middle. He was wearing a blue cowl with a white star and a matching outfit. It was bear version of Captain America.

"Cap!" Tony yelled. He ran and grabbed the bear, running back to the kitchen while hugging the small toy. The agents were trying hard not to laugh.

"Who's that?" Steve asked while the others looked at the bear in awe.

"You have a Captain America bear? Cool!" Clint yelled.

"Who's Captain America?" The Captain himself asked.

"Only the best superhero ever! He ended the war! He saved everyone! He's the bravest man ever. He can save anyone." Tony answered showing him the bear. They all stood for a few moments staring at the toy. Bruce yawned.

"Why don't you guys go back to bed?" Coulson suggested and they all walked back into the other room and plopped back on the sofa, Tony now hugging his bear. Eventually, they all appeared to be asleep and the two adults went to the guest rooms down the hall to get some sleep themselves. As soon as they left, Tony slid out from where Bruce was hugging him and walked to the kitchen. Steve followed him.

"I thought that Captain America helped you sleep?" Tony jumped and turned around to look at the other boy.

"He does.. sometimes, but other times it just makes me scared."

"Why? I thought he was a great big awesome superhero?"

"He is, but he's missing. If a great big awesome superhero like him can go missing, then who's to say that I can't?"

"How did he go missing?" Steve asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, everyone says that he's dead, but my dad won't give up. He has to find him, even if it means losing me."

"Then why do you have the bear? If he ruined your life and all, how can he be a great hero?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm kind of hoping that one day he'll come and save me."

"You don't need him to save you." Tony looked up at the older boys confidence.

"What do you mean?"

"This Captain America guy sounds like a loser if he can go missing while kids are sad. But you saved us today from that Bruce kid, so you're a real hero, just a smaller sized one."

"'Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones that are the biggest usually do the best. The small ones that take the form of tiny invaluable creatures get crushed like ants under the shoe of society.'"

"Is that another quote?"

"Yeah, my father said it. I'm just a small hero, waiting to be crushed."

"Captain America is like the shoe then. He crushed you?" Tony nodded.

"The shoe crushed me, but it also helped others walk." They were silent for awhile. "I keep the Cap bear because I can't lose him. Not again. He won't go missing again…..why are you awake?" Steve shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess it's just really strange and new here, I don't really like it. It would be nice to have something familiar."

"Well, you know a lot about Captain America now, so he can be familiar. You wanna sleep with Cap?" He asked, holding out the bear.

"Really? I thought you didn't want to lose him?"

"I won't be losing him. Just letting him see new places, new people, so he can become a bigger hero."

"Doesn't that also make him a bigger shoe?" It was quiet again.

"I don't think the shoe can get any bigger, just the ant can get smaller. 'How could anyone care about one star when there were so many spare? And what if stars were small? What if all the stars were just pixels? And earth was less than a pixel? What does that make us? And what does that make me?'"

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?"

"Quoting things."

"I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself'" He answered with a grin.

"Did you just quote a quote about quoting?"

"Yep!"

"I'm going to bed. Have fun with that nerd." Tony smiled.

"Thanks." The next morning no one questioned why Tony was sitting at the kitchen table talking with Jarvis or why Steve was lying on the living room floor with the Captain America bear. They did question, however, why the microwave was completely dismantled on the counter in front of Tony.

"Um, Tony?"

"Good morning ma'am." He stood up, folding his hands in front of him and nodding his head at the agent.

"Morning. What happened to the microwave?" Tony looked down.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I grew curious about it and wanted to know how it worked. Why are the microwaves here so complicated?"

"You can thank older you for that, he makes everything so technologically advanced that half of us can't even work the showers, especially not Steve." He seemed to think on that.

"So, all the kids live here when we grow up?"

"Yes, you guys form a team. You're Iron Man."

"Really? What are the other kids?"

"Well, Clint becomes a master archer named Hawkeye, Natasha becomes a master assassin named black widow, Thor, well, he's the God of thunder already-"

"What do you mean the God of thunder?"

"He's from a different realm, Asgard." Tony stared at her confused. "I don't know how to explain it, you understand it when you're a grown up."

"What about Bruce, and Steve? What do they become."

"Well, Bruce, remember the big Green guy?" He nodded. "Bruce transforms into him when he gets mad, and he's called the hulk. He's a superhero too."

"And Steve? What's Steve?" She laughed.

"You know, it was curiosity that killed the cat."

"But discovery brought it back to life." She smiled at him.

"Steve, well… he becomes the team leader type guy. You both lead the team. He has super strength and super healing."

"What's his superhero name?"

"Its…. Battle boy. Yeah. Battle boy."

"That sounds lame, ma'am." She laughed again.

"No, he's really cool, I think you would like him…. And Tony? Don't tell the other kids about future them. We don't want them to get any ideas about trying to fly or what not." He nodded. "So, what did you find out about the microwave ?"

"Oh, well, it's really neat. 'It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.'"

"Albert Einstein?" Coulson said, walking into the kitchen.

"'Nothing is more creative... nor destructive... than a brilliant mind with a purpose.'" Steve walked into the kitchen, clutching the bear.

"Hi Tony. Hi Mrs. Hill and Mr. Coulson. He's quoting again?"

"'Yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds.'" They all laughed a little.

"You know, Tony, I never took you to be a reader. A lot of these are quotes from books. Have you read them all?"

"Yes sir. I love to read. 'The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.'" Natasha walked into the kitchen.

"Dr. Suess." Tony nodded.

"Jarvis said he wrote a lot more books in the future, I've never read that one. Came out in 1990." Natasha nodded.

"I heard you guys talking before. We're pretty cool as grown-ups, huh Tony?" He laughed and Steve looked confused.

"Yeah, don't tell the others though." She grinned at him and pretended to zip her lips shut, completing the action with locking it and throwing away the key. That, of course, was when Clint walked in.

"Don't tell the other kids what? Secrets secrets are no fun, unless you share with everyone!" He chanted and Steve joined in.

'I'd learned that some things are best kept secret.'" Tony said the same time Natasha said "Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead." grinning evilly. Steve and Clint backed away.

"Your super creepy. And you're super smart. I'm glad we're friends."

"We're friends?" Tony said skeptically.

"Yeah, I've decided. We're all friends."

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Have a friend?"

"Haven't you ever had a friend before?" He shrugged.

"Jarvis was my friend. The human, not the AI- we're friends though, right Jarvis?"

"Yes sir."

"Tony."

"Yes Tony…..sir." Tony laughed. "So, what do friends do?"

"Well, what did you and Jarvis do?" Tony shook his head.

"Nothing that we need to do now." Clint nodded.

"Well, friends hang out, they eat together and watch movies and play, which we already did, and that was fun."

"Today, you guys can hang out more and become better friends." Coulson said. "Why don't you go wake the others and we'll have breakfast, then you can all play." The 3 of them ran up and jumped on Thor, while Tony went and gently woke up Bruce. They came into the kitchen and saw a few boxes of cereal on the table along with bowls.

"Alright, which kind do you kids want?" They all chose their cereal and began to eat, all except Tony.

"I'm not hungry. I don't usually eat breakfast, ma'am. 'Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.' But, you see, I can only think of 5 impossible things, because nothing else seems impossible if you really try." They all kind of stared at him before Hill started laughing.

"You are one weird kid. It's awesome."

"Thanks." He replied sheepishly. They all finished and went back to the other room to play, this time the agents would supervise them at all times. Most of the kids jumped right in, Bruce drawing at the table, Steve, Thor, and Clint playing another weird version of tag, well, more like Steve and Thor were chasing each other while Clint shot them with the nerf bow and arrow. However, Natasha stood off to the side, looking a little awkward, and Tony stood over by the table, watching the game in wonder. Coulson and Hill decided to step in.

"I'll take Tony, you take Natasha?"Coulson asked and she nodded.

"Hey Tony, don't you wanna go play with the other boys? I think they're playing tag?" He looked up at him.

"How do you play?"

"You've never played tag?"

"No sir. It looks strange though."

"Well, tag is a game where one person is trying to touch the others while chasing them around. If you get tagged, then your it, which means you have to chase the others around and try to tag them."

"What's the point?"

"I guess the objective of the game is to not get tagged. You should go play, I'm sure the other kids would love for you to join the game." He seemed to think for a minute.

"No thank you sir. I just don't see how that's productive."

"Well, it isn't. It's supposed to be fun."

"I don't know… 'The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.' I'm not supposed to play or have fun. It wastes time when I should be working, or thinking. Something productive, and that doesn't seem productive."  
"Isn't it more of a waste of time just standing here though?" Things weren't going well for Hill either.

"Hey Natasha. Don't you want to go play with the boys?"

"No, I would just win and it would be boring." She said with a sigh.

"What about if you go draw with Bruce?"

"Draw what? And for what purpose. Boring." She dismissed.

"There's a Lego set over there why don't you go play with that?" Coulson had the same idea for Tony.

"Building is productive, right? You could go build with the Legos."

"Those are those block things right?"

"You've never played with Legos before."

"No sir. How do they work?" Coulson glanced over to Natasha and Hill.

"Maybe Natasha could help you. Do you want to go ask?"

"I don't want to bother her. It's dangerous to bother people when they want to be left alone." but Coulson grabbed his hand and dragged him over before he could protest.

"Hey Natasha, have you ever used Legos before?"

"Yes sir."

"Tony was wondering how to use them, he hasn't played with them before. Could you show him?" She shrugged.

"I guess." They both walked over to the set in the corner and the agents let them be. Of course, there was never a dull moment in a house full of 6 kids, so the shenanigans with the children playing tag started almost as soon as Tony and Natasha opened the box.

"I don't wanna play anymore! This is dumb!" Steve shouted at Thor, immediately followed by an aggravated yell as he was shot in the face. "Stop it! I wanna play a different game!"

"Like what?" Thor asked.

"I wanna play soldiers!" Clint shot another padded arrow at him. "Hey!"

"Okay, let's play soldiers. I wanna be the general!'

"No I'm the general!"

"I wish to lead!" Meanwhile, Natasha had briefly explained how the Legos worked together they had already finished two sets. They turned around at the blooming fight.

"'How does soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?'" Tony muttered. Natasha scoffed in agreement, Tony completely oblivious to the truth behind it for her, and they both went back to the set, only to look back up again at Steve screaming as Thor and Clint chased him, each yelling 'I'm the general!'. Tony sighed.

"'The most deadly combination known to man is low IQ and high testosterone."' Which made them both snicker as Steve, Thor, and Clint all stood on top of the sofa, trying to prove themselves the biggest and strongest. "Do you think adult us are friends?" Tony asked abruptly.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you think we'll remember all this when we get changed back to our normal selves?"

"Sorry kid, but I have no idea. Hopefully not." She replied as they finished the third and final set. They sat and watched the boys argue as they talked.

"How could I possibly become a superhero? I get how Steve does, he's strong, and Ms. Hill said that Thor is a god. We all saw the Hulk. Clint is all brave and stuff, and he's really good with that bow and arrow. And you, I'm a lot smarter than people think. I notice things. You're some kind of agent, like and Ms. Hill, but different. Your secretive and skilled and graceful…. You don't have to answer, but I know that some have been hired to take out my father, and couple of times even me, so are you an assassin?" She hesitated before nodding.

"Okay."

"Okay? That's all you have to say? I'm dangerous, I'm a murderer, kid. All you have to say is okay? You're okay that?" He nodded.

"Like I said before. I'm smart. I notice things. You're not just some ruthless murderer. You care about people and deep down, you're scared and worried, just like everyone else in this world. You've killed people?" She nodded. "You see, sure, you're a murderer, but you're not a monster. I see the good in you. It's there, I know what it looks like for it to not be there. But you have it. You have the good. So it's okay."

"Was that a quote?"

"No."

"Why do you have thoughts like that? You're seven years old?" He sighed.

"My mind scares me. It keeps changing and showing me things I'm not ready to see, it keeps doing things I'm not ready for, and it terrifies me, because I wish I was like Clint, or Steve or even Bruce, where life just happens and you don't question why. And even if they do question why, they don't find an answer, but for some reason my mind does. I'm a genius, and it's brought me nothing but alienation and hurt and distrust in everything. Sometimes I just… I just wish…"

"You wish you were normal." She finished for him in agreement. "Me too, kid….but that's why you're going to be hero too, because you already are one... You know, your one special 7 year old."

"So I've been told… thanks." They would have talked more if all of a sudden Steve hadn't come at them, tripping and falling into Tony, causing him to fall back onto the Lego creation behind him. He arched his back and tried to push Steve off of him, stopping them from digging into his back. Thor and Clint ran over to help them up and we're soon followed by Hill and Coulson.

"Sorry Tony! Are you okay?" Steve said immediately after getting got off of him and they were both off the floor.

"Yeah, it's okay. Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Clint asked and Tony seemed to be at loss for words.

"oh… I.. I don't know. Sorry."

"Stop saying sorry!" Steve laughed.

"So- oh. So- Ugh I can't do it!" They all laughed a little.

"Why are you so good all the time? I mean, you're like the most well behaved kid here, besides Natasha, but she's older and probably plotting all our deaths. Even Thor has gotten into a few fights." Clint asked, but Tony only shrugged.

"How old are you?" Steve asked.

"7."

"Oh, I thought you were younger…. how old are you Bruce?"

"5…. what about you?"

"I'm 9. How old is everyone else?"

"I'm 11." Said Clint.

"10."

"On midgard I am 12."

"Midgard's Earth?" Tony assumed.

"Yes, I am from Asgard." Surprisingly, the kids didn't even question that Thor was an alien. Of course, that may have been because at that moment the windows all shattered. Natasha grabbed the two kids closest to her, winding up being Tony and Steve, and pulled then to the ground, creating a barrier between the breaking glass and the boys. Thor and Clint huddled down around Bruce and Coulson and Hill, who were too far away to protect any of the kids, ducked down themselves. Glass flew everywhere, not leaving a single person unscathed, and men in black clothing flew into the room. Coulson, Hill, and Natasha all got up, but we're brought down by tranquilizer darts to their necks. Bruce started to hulk out, but he too received a dart. The men started grabbing the kids, yanking Tony, Clint, and Thor by the arms and leaving the unconscious kids behind. They pulled the children down the stairs, each one struggling, and exited the building, waving loaded gun at anyone who looked like they might interfere. The kids saw the nappers pull out black bags and put them over their heads, making it so they could no longer see. They were pulled up into some kind of seat and they heard some doors slam, leaving them to assume they were in cars. Before they knew it their wrists were tied behind them and they felt as though they were moving. It was silent for the ride, but eventually the car stopped and they heard voices.

"I don't get why the boss only wanted us to take some."

"Because he just wants SHIELD to be scared, let them know that we know, that sort of thing." The bags were pulled off their heads, Tony first, then Thor, and finally Clint.

"Let us go." Tony said and Clint thought along the same lines.

"No one will pay ransom."

"Oh, we don't care about the money, we just want to kick some Avengers while their down." Each kid was pulled out of the car and forced to walk with a guard behind them, a gun to their back. Tony was handling it the best.

"What's your plans?"

"Why would we tell you?"

"So I can be prepared. Is this a torture type deal, or are you just holding us, proving a point?" He was way to used to this for a 7 year old boy. The goons only laughed.

"We're going to do whatever we want kid, so just listen and everything will be okay." This time Tony scoffed.

"Yeah, okay. My friends and I are being held and the criminals are going to do whatever they want, which will probably involve us getting hurt, but everything is going to okay? Sounds good to me. My life is content." This earned him a kick to the legs, causing him to fall face first into the dirt path they were walking on towards the grey building. With his hands tied behind him, nothing broke his fall so his cheek hit the dirt, bruising his jaw and a rock cutting him on his forehead. His knees were scraped and would no doubt be bleeding. They picked him back up.

"Shut up, kid."

"Oh, wow. I'm so scared. Oh my goodness, you said shut up! What am I going to do?!" Instead of pushing him this time, they decided to just grab his hand, twisting it until he shouted.

"Yeah, you should be scared. Someone put a gag in him?" A slightly smaller man complied, and a thick cloth was tied around Tony's head, the dirt and sweat on the fabric in his mouth made Tony want to puke. The rest of the walk was quiet, Tony was unable to speak and the other two kids were to scared to. When they finally reached the building they were all put into a locked room together and we're left alone. Tony sat staring at a wall, taping his foot until he realised that Clint and Thor were staring at him.

"What?"

"You're so brave."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first with the whole Bruce thing, and you never complained or anything when you got hurt, Steve fell on you, like, three times, and you stood up to those kidnappers. I'm so scared all the time, but you're brave." Tony shook his head.

"'Without fear there cannot be courage.' You're braver than me, you both are. You guys have fears, and so do I, but your action outweigh your fears."

"But you have done more acts of bravery than us." Thor replied and Tony shook his head again.

"But they still don't outweigh my fears."

"Is your hand okay?" Clint asked after a too quiet moment. "And don't just say it fine, because you have said that way too many times after you get hurt." Tony shrugged.

"It kind of hurts. I think it might be sprained."

"What about your face, and your knees?" He shrugged again.

"They're just cuts. 'To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence. '"

"But just because you're prepared doesn't mean it hurts any less."

"'Nobody can hurt me without my permission.'"

"I think you quote more who you're nervous. Why do even memorize these?"

"I don't. They just kind of stick in my head and I can't help but use them. They just slide off my tongue. ' I am exhausted from the effort to forget... There are things that have to be forgotten if you want to go on living.'.

"You must think a lot. I've made another decision. We're not just friends. We're best friends. I like you, kid. You're interesting."

'"Everyone is someone's friend, even when they think they are all alone.' You're just saying that." Tony said with a slight frown.

"No, I promise. When we get out of here, you'll still be my best friend. And if we remember this moment in the future, then I'll be your best friend then, too." Tony probably would've quoted more, or argued about how he would be forgotten, but the door opened and a man wearing a bulletproof vest with the words SHIELD on it barged through the door with a gun in one hand and a walkie talkie in the other. He observed the kids and sighed in relief.

"I found them. I repeat, I found the children. Evacuating now- Coulson, stop yelling at me, their fine." He looked at the kids. "You guys are fine, right?" They nodded and Tony said "Yes sir."

"Okay, good. Let's get outta here." He walked over to Thor first and untied him. The agent untied Clint while Thor untied Tony. They exited the room and walked down a long hallway, eventually coming to a door that the agent opened and they walked outside. There was a car waiting with Coulson and Hill standing outside. When they saw them they ran over. Following right after them, the doors swing open and the rest of the kids ran out, all racing to get to their friends.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Tony, what happened to your face, and your legs?"

"What happened?" A million questions were thrown at them. Eventually, Agent Hill calmed everyone down. Natasha had Tony and Clint in a hug, one arm around each of them. Thor had picked up Bruce and they were all being hopped at and yelled at by Steve, who for some reason needed to know every detail.

"We're going to take you all to medical and have you checked out, then we're going to go back home, watch a movie, eat, and relax. Deal?" Coulson asked and they all nodded. "Good, let's go." The car ride to SHIELD was full of the kids (mainly Steve) asking a ton of questions and the kidnapped children (mainly Clint) doing their best to answer them. The doctors wrapped Tony's wrist and knees and cleaned up his face and they were good to go. However, that was until the kids were getting antsy and refused to get back in the car.

"I wanna go to the park!"

"Half of you just got kidnapped, and you want to go to the park."

"I wanna go too!"

"Seriously Clint." Soon all the kids agreed and they went off to the park, even though Coulson insisted it was a bad idea. He called Fury.

"Hi, so the baby Avengers are revolting and we are now headed to the park. Help."

"I'll send you some back up. Don't let them get kidnapped. Again."

"Yes sir. Who are you sending, exactly?" At that moment, a short kid walked up to him.

"Hi, I'm Peter. Fury sent me to help baby sit." He looked at the boy and talked into the phone.

"You're sending another kid for me to watch?"

"He's responsible. Trust me."

"Is he even a part of SHIELD?"

"He's Spider-man." He looked at the kid.

"How old are you?"

"15."

"I'm 9!" Steve shouted.

"Well, hi 9, nice to meet you. I'm Peter."

"No, my names not nine! It's Steve. I'm 9 years old!"

"Oh, that makes a lot more sense! Nice to meet ya Stevie." Coulson talked back into the phone.

"Fine. Thanks, sir."

"Good luck." He hung up and sighed.

"Okay kids, let's go to the park." They all, including Peter, cheered.

"I want a piggy back ride!" Steve yelled at the teen.

"You're supposed to say please." Muttered Tony shyly.

"I want a piggy back ride _please!"_ Peter laughed.

"Yeah, okay. Hop on."

"Yay!" Peter, having super strength, heated the kid up easily.

"Say thank you, Steve."

"Thank you! Stop being a buzz kill!" he yelled at Tony.

"He's not being a buzz kill Stevie, he's being nice." Peter told him. "What's your name?"

"Its Tony, sir."

"You don't have to call me sir, I'm just a kid, like you. Call me Peter."

"'I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.'" Peter looked kind of confused.

"He does that." Clint explained. "He quotes a lot, but that's okay because he's my best friend! Right Tony?"

"'A true friend is coming my warrior to sweep you away, It won't be easy the path because it leads through hell, But if you're faithful, it will be the greatest story to tell.'"

"You're so weird. Want a piggy back ride?"

"No thank you."

"What about you Bruce?"

"Yeah!" by the time they got to the park Peter had learned everyone's name. Bruce was on Clint's back, Thor was in Peter's back, and Steve was on Hill's back. As soon as they arrived, all the kids except for Tony and Natasha ran to the swings, the slide, or the rock wall. Peter stayed behind with the two.

"Don't you guys want to play?"

"No thank you sir. 'It is a happy talent to know how to play.' I don't have that talent, sir. Sorry." Tony replied, but Natasha looked tempted.

"I'll teach you how to play." Peter suggested and Tony glanced at Natasha, as though asking if he should.

"I think we should play." She decided.

"Okay." Peter walked with both of them over to the swings.

"Here, I'll push you." He said after helping Tony on. He started off slowly, but at Tony's grin he pushed them a little higher. For the first time since he had turned little, Tony laughed a real, joyful laugh. It was adorable.

"'I'll use the wings you gave me and away I'll fly!'" He shouted with glee and Peter and Natasha couldn't help but smile and laugh too. Even Coulson, who was sitting on a nearby bench, grinned. Eventually, Clint ran over and Peter slowed the swing down.

"Hey guys, we're going to have a race, wanna join?" Tony and Natasha hopped of the swings and joined the line of kids.

"Okay, first one to touch the ladder of the slide and come back wins. Peter, you judge."

"Alright. 3….2….1!" They all took off, Natasha, and Thor close behind Steve, who was enhanced with the serum and had could run faster than even an athletic grown man. Surprisingly, Tony was on their heels in the way back, but Clint wasn't far behind. Bruce was a short distance away, coming in last. At the last moment, Tony pulled just ahead of Natasha, placing third. Steve got first, Thor got second, Natasha got fourth, Clint came in fifth, and finally, Bruce came sixth. They were all panting once they came back, but they each were smiling.

"That was fun!" Steve yelled.

"'Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.'" a large boy, probably around 12 or 13, came over as Tony said it.

"That's such a weird thing to say, freak."

"'That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.'" He replied.

"As I said before, you're a freak." He said with a grin.

"Leave him alone you jerk!" Steve yelled.

"What are you going to do about it, pip squeak?"

"'Haters and bullies are always cowards, you know. They like to pick on little guys.'" Tony told him. The next thing he knew he was being pushed into the ground. The bully didn't last another 5 seconds. If Coulson hadn't run over, Natasha probably would have killed him. Don't mess with the little nerd that hangs out with gods, super soldiers, assassins, and a spider. The other boy ran as Thor and Natasha helped Tony up.

"Don't mess with my best friend, loser!" Clint screamed at him.

"Thanks." Tony said to them when the kid was out of sight. Thor put an arm around him, laughing.

"That is what friends are for."

"Let's go on the slide!" Steve yelled and they all agreed. They stayed at the park for about another hour with ought any incidents, and they finally decided to go back home.

"I want a piggy back ride!" Steve yelled as they walked back to the tower.

"Tony, do want a piggy back ride?" Peter asked, ignoring Steve.

"I want one!"

"No, that's okay. You can give Steve one."

"But do you want one?" Tony hesitated.

"Yeah, okay." He was easily put on Peter's back.

"I want one!" Steve yelled.

"I'll give you one, Steve." Thor said and Steve climbed on.

"Bruce, do you want one?" Clint asked.

"Yeah!" Now, all the kids were on someone's back except Natasha. Her and Agent Hill meet eyes, and Hill raised an eyebrow. Natasha shrugged and walked over. Hill lifted her onto her back. Coulson decided to take this opportunity.

"Okay, everyone get in a line. We're taking a picture." They all complied and looked at Coulson's phone, Tony posing naturally, used to the camera, and the others made silly faces. By the time they got back to the tower it was dark and everyone was tired. Luckily, while they were gone, people had come in to fix the broken window and clean up the mess. When they came in Bruce, Tony, Clint and Natasha went right for the sofa and Thor and Steve went right to the fridge. Once they grabbed a ton of miscellaneous food, they joined their friends on the sofa. They were all tired and fell asleep not even 10 minutes through The Lion King. All except Tony. When Coulson and Hill came in, he was still watching it, obviously bored and tired.

"Hey, kiddo. Why don't you go to sleep? You look tired." Peter had went home, something about a history paper he didn't finish. Tony shrugged. They noticed that he was holding one hand of the Cap bear, and Steve was holding the other. "That's nice of you to share the bear, Tony." He just shrugged again.

"'A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.'" He said while watching Simba sing about being king. When the agents took in the scene, they smiled. It was a complete family, Natasha and Clint pressed together in the corner of the sofa, Steve leant against Tony, Thor with an arm around Bruce. The decided to sit down and watch the movie in the dark room. It took them until the part where the screen lit up with colors from "Hakuna Matata" for them to notice that Tony was crying.

"Tony, what's wrong, and don't apologize." Tony just shook his head.

"Nothings wrong, sir."

"Then why are you crying, obviously something's up."

"Something _is_ up, actually _everything_ is up. "Go higher and higher, until it becomes impossible to bring you down." He looked around at the other kids. "I've never had this before….I like it." He visibly squeezed the hand of the bear and looked back at the TV.

"So, tears of joy, then?"

"'Tears of joy, tears of laughter, tears of happily ever after.'" They decided to leave it at that and within a few hours all the kids were safely asleep and the agents went to get rest themselves. They woke up in the middle of the night to cursing and a familiar male voice calling their name. Someone had changed back into an adult.

* * *

Here's a list of all the ages in case you were confused. So, I haven't actually decided who is an adult yet, so I am completely open to suggestions (Considering anyone actually reads this) so please comment who you want it to be. It will be one of the boys, but not Tony quite yet. He's too adorable to be a grown-up again. Thanks!

Bruce- 5 (small for his age)

Tony-7 (also small, looks 6)

Natasha- 10 (petite)

Steve- 9 (big, like a 10 year old)

Clint- 11 (probably the only normal kid)

Thor- 12 (bulky)

Hulk- 14 (a big 14 year old, like the ones you see that you're like 'woah, look at that 16 year old, but no, he's 14...with the mind of a 5 year old)

Also, sorry for the years they were born, just roll with me here. Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes too. Just sorry for anything wrong with this so far at all...great, now I'm like Tony and apologizing too much. Tony: No one can be like me! I'm one of a kind! Me: Suuure. Tony: Whatever, I'm not the one having a conversation with Iron Man in my head. Me: Comments may help keep me sane. Tony: Probably not. Me: Worth a try. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! Tony: You should all review too. Me: Yay! Tony finally supports my life choices and wants something good to happen to me! Tony: No, I just know you write faster with reviews and I want to be an adult again.**

"Coulson! There is a _slight_ problem!" The two agents ran into the room to see Clint sitting awkwardly on the couch, surrounded by the children.

"You….you're an adult again."

"Oh, really?! I hadn't noticed!" Unfortunately, all their yelling woke up the remaining kids. They all stared at him in shock and confusion.

"Who the heck are you?!" Steve asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily, trying to wake up more so he could formally meet and inspect the intruder.

"I'm Clint."

"You're not Clint! You're a grown up!"

"Um….I'm big Clint."

"You are future Clint?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, sure. Um, little Clint went back to his own time." They all nodded, accepting the fact that the man was from the future and their friend was sent back to the past. Hill looked around, noticing that the kids were all still tired and it was around 2 in the morning.

"How about you guys go back to sleep? We can talk more in the morning. Clint, let's go into the kitchen." Clint nodded and the children all relaxed into the sofa, the three adults leaving.

"What do you remember?" Coulson asked when they were out of earshot of the children.

"Everything, You two are terrible babysitters." Hill sighed.

"Well, hopefully you're good with children." Clint scoffed.

"I grew up in a circus. I love children!" There was a moment of awkward silence.

"What made you become an adult again? Maybe we can trigger it in the others." Hill asked.

"I'm not sure. I was asleep when it happened. I think I was having a dream."

"What about?"

"We were all at the park, children us. Tony and I were hanging out and we were all racing together again. It's weird. When I was a kid, I never really made friends. I was scared to, because the circus moved around too much and I didn't want to become attached to anyone or anything, but I bonded with these guys pretty quickly."

"Maybe the power of friendship brought you back?" Coulson suggested and they all laughed, but they knew deep down it was a possibility. It wouldn't have been the weirdest thing to happen.

"Actually…..no, no. If that were true almost all of us would be adults again. Natasha and Tony bonded in the beginning and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that we're all friends at this point." They all nodded and it was once again awkwardly silence. Clint faked a yawn. "Alright, well, I'm tired and I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning." He left and the other two followed his out shortly after.

When they woke up the next morning, Tony was sitting at the kitchen table once again.

"Tony, what'cha doing?" Tony looked up at Clint, who had been the first to walk in, then turned back to his small invention.

"I...I'm making a remote control for the toaster….sir." He appeared to feel very awkward around his now adult friend.

"That's really neat. And you don't have to call me sir, Tones. We're still pals." He looked up again, shock and surprise in his eyes.

"But you're a grown up now." Clint shrugged and slid into the seat next to him.

"So?"

"Why would you want to be friends with me, a little kid, when you're an adult?" Clint smiled and ruffled the kid's hair, successfully being the first adult to touch him without causing him to flinch.

"Because you're, like, the coolest kid I've ever met!" Tony giggled a little when he looked up to see the grin and bright eyes of the archer.

"So, we're still friends?" He asked, still a little doubtful.

"Not just friends, kid! I remember we said something about _best_ friends!"

Coulson and Hill walked into the kitchen half an hour later and laughed to themselves as they saw Tony and Clint, attempting to make what appeared to be pancake batter. It was all over them, the floor, and the counter, which Clint was standing behind Tony at. Together they were mixing some kind of gooey batter in a big clear bowl with a wooden spoon.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" They both looked up, their faces equally covered in flour.

"Clint and I are making pancakes!" Tony grinned and then laughed as Clint put some batter on his nose.

"We're the best bakers ever, right Tony?" Clint asked as he picked Tony up to avoid getting a big glob of batter on his face as well, delivered by tiny fingers. Clint placed Tony on the counter and wiped a cloth across his face to get some of the baking materials off.

"How about you two go wake up the other kids and we'll finish up these." Tony nodded eagerly and Clint got him off the counter, holding his small hand as they walked into the living room. Hill and Coulson were alone in the kitchen.

"He made Tony laugh and goof around." Coulson observed, flipping a pancake.

"Yeah, Tony hasn't even warmed up to us yet, and he just met adult Clint." Hill answered, grabbing some plates from the cabinet.

"Well, adult Clint and Tony are friends, and young Clint and Tony were friends, so I guess adult Clint and young Tony can be friends easily, too." They put the pile of pancakes on a large platter and placed it on the now set table as the kids, and Clint, walked or ran in. Clint sat in the middle of Tony and Steve, next to Steve was Thor, then Bruce, then Coulson, Hill, and finally Natasha sat between her and Tony. They were about to start eating when Steve spoke up.

"Flying, unicorns, talking lions, fire breathing doggies, magical beans, doing a cartwheel." They all stared at him as he smiled proudly.

"Uum, what were those?" Coulson asked unsure of the kid's sanity. Steve only grinned more and looked at Tony.

"Well, yesterday Tony said that he thinks of 6 impossible things before breakfast. So, those were mine. Flying, unicorns, talking lions, fire breathing doggies, magic beans, and doing a cartwheel."

"Going to space, blowing up the moon, eating an entire rack of ribs, being the president, dragons, 20 push ups." Bruce stated.

"Flying fish, flying pigs, flying goats, flying cats, flying cows, flying horses." Natasha said and they all giggled.

"Eating 40 pizzas, eating 40 burgers, eating 40 icecream cones, eating 40 cakes, eating 400 donuts, eating 400 cookies."

"Wielding mjolnir, making my brother behave, destroying the bifrost, killing odin, lifting an elephant, wiping out the entire race of frost giants." Most of the things Thor said actually happened. However, one of the things he said reminded Hill of something. She turned to Coulson.

"Do you think Loki could fix this?" He seemed to think on it.

"Maybe, but how would we contact him?' Thor perked up.

"My brother? Is my brother here?"

"Well, no...but we need him to be. Do you know how to get him here?" Thor nodded and smiled, pulling out a small necklace from around his neck that they had failed to notice before.

"When my brother and I go to school, he gets lonely, so we each have these necklaces that he put magic on so we can talk to each other." He placed it on the table. It was small disk with a twistable knob on the top between the two pieces of metal that connected it to the chain. The disk was glossy and stone like, hued in a dark red. Thor turned the knob and it began to glow. Suddenly, a voice came softly out of it.

"Thor, what do you want?!" The kid looked confused as a voice that was not his brother's echoed through from the necklace.

"L-Loki? Is that you?"

"Thor?"

"Uuum, yes? Where is my brother? Why do you have his necklace?"

"Thor, calm down. It is me. I'm an adult, and you, clearly, are not. Is there an adult near you brother?" Hill picked it up by the chain.

"Loki, this is agent Hill of SHIELD."

"What is SHIELD doing with my brother and why is he a kid?"

"There was an accident. All the Avengers were turned to children."

"And you want my help."

"Yes."

"How do you know that I won't just take advantage of this situation and take over the world why you are defenseless?" Thor had been paying close attention to the conversation and became scared as he heard Loki say this.

"Wh-why would you take over the world? Brother, what are you talking about?" He was on the verge of tears.

"No, Thor, it's okay. I was just kidding." Loki said, obviously trying to make thor feel better. It worked.

"So you'll help us?" Thor asked hopefully. Really, Loki had no choice. Plus, it was no fun taking over the world when there was no battle.

"Fine. Avenger's tower, I assume?" They didn't have a chance to respond before Loki appeared standing behind Tony, who turned around and screamed. Clint quickly grabbed him and calmed him down, and nobody missed how Natasha picked up a fork from the table and twirled it in her fingers calmly, glaring at Loki. The god of mischief was wearing tight black pants that looked like skinny jeans and a dark green long sleeve shirt with gold stripes.

"Who is who?" He asked, taking a look at each of the children.

"I'm Steve!"

"I'm Bruce." No one else went to say anything.

"This is Natasha." Hill said, gesturing at the sly eyes girl.

"You must be Tony, then." Loki answered, looking at the boy in Clint's lap. He nodded, still spooked from when the man had first appeared. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" As he finished the sentence a figure of a cat appeared on the table. Steve jumped up on his chair and tried to pet it, but his hand went right through.

"Why can't I pet the cat!?" He said sulkily and Loki chuckled.

"It's just an illusion."

"Like a hologram?" Tony asked shyly. Thor jumped up and began to try and pet the cat too.

"No, Loki uses magic!" he announced laughing as Bruce joined them, playing with the fake cat.

"But magics not real. 'Magic's just science that we don't understand yet.'"

"No! He has magic! Brother, tell him!"

"It's true, Anthony." Loki said, smirking as Steve almost fell off the table that he was standing on, trying to catch the now floating cat that leaped through the air.

"He likes to be called Tony, not Anthony!" The giggling blond shouted.

"Can he not speak for himself?"

"He's too polite and shy!" Bruce laughed.

"Well, once I get you guys back to normal, he'll be an arrogant fool once again."

"He's not an arrogant fool! He's my friend!" Steve yelled madly as Hill lifted him off the table he was standing on.

"Loki, can you put the cat on the floor? And stop messing with them and fix this." Coulson said. Loki obliged and soon there were 4 cats scurrying across the kitchen floor while the kids chased them,

"Why is Clint not a child also?" Loki asked, staring questionably at the adult with Tony in his lap.

"I was until I woke up this morning."

"Hmm, something must trigger the change. What were you feeling before you changed back?"

"Well, I was having a dream about playing with all the other kids, and then I woke up."

"Happiness changes them back? No….what were your fears as a child?"

"Well, I used to be scared of making friends, but other than that I was pretty chill. I did grow up in a circus after all." Loki thought on this.

"I have an idea on what caused the change, but I'll need to talk to the kids." Hill went into the living room which the kids had chased the cats into and came back with Bruce, Steve, and Thor behind her.

"Hello, children."

"Hi brother!" Thor yelled, running up to him and hugging his legs. Loki stiffened and looked confused on what to do until he slowly put a hand on Thor's shoulder.

"Yes….hello. To properly introduce myself, I am Loki, Thor's …." he was about to say younger, but looking at the 12 year old he changed his mind "brother. I am here to help you return to normal, so to start, I just need to know what all your fears are."

"I'm scared of bugs! Theyre so gross," Bruce shouted excitedly. Loki scoffed.

"Think a little deeper, maybe not a physical thing, but a mental one."

"Well, I don't like being alone. It makes me sad." Loki smiled and nodded.

"Yes, good. Anyone else?"

"I don't like not being the best! I always want to be the best!" The god chuckled at his brother.

"Why, yes. I know that. What about you Natasha?"

"Not being good enough. I'll get in trouble."

"My mom says when I was little I used to cry every time she rearranged the furniture!" Steve said giggling while he and Bruce played rock paper scissors shoot.

"So you dislike change?"

"Yes!"

"That leaves you Tony. What are you afraid of?" Tony looked down sad and shy.

"I don't know, sir."

"Tony's not scared of anything! He's the bravest kid ever!" Steve shouted followed by a chorus of "yeah!"s from all the other children. They all giggled as they saw Tony smile a bit from under his bangs and turned away head.

"Well, just because you're brave doesn't mean you are not scared. "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?''That is the only time a man can be brave,''" Tony looked up with a grin and they all stared at Loki.

"You just quoted to him." Steve stated the obvious.

"Yes, quotes are a very elegant way to say words that you couldn't think of. I believe Marlene Dietrich once said an interesting phrase about this.' I love quotations because it-"

"-is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself." Tony finished for him, sharing a look and a smile.

"So Tony, what would you say you are most scared of?" Loki asked as everyone giggled at them.

"I''m sorry, I don't know."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"Why do you need to know our fears?" They had begun eating the food they had abandoned when Loki had first arrived and Steve had asked this with a mouthful of pancake and syrup.

"I believe that the way you change back is by overcoming your childhood fears. Clint's was making friends, but as he made friends with you, he became an adult again. I will have to stay with you for a bit to be positive."

"I'm sure we can set you up in a spare room, Loki." Hill answered.

"Yes, there is a spare bedroom down the hall from the two you have been living in." Jarvis informed them.

"I won't be here long, just enough to prove my theory and then fix the others so I continue being a normal villain, not a babysitting one."

"Well, until then I'm sure we could use an extra hand in taking care of them." As Hill said this, Thor flung a pancake across the room, landing squarely, or rather, roundly, on Steve's face, who then jumped across the table, pouring syrup in the small gods lap. While he was stretched across, Bruce began to cover his back with butter. Tony and Natasha both sighed and shared a look of disappointment as the adults tried to stop the rambunctious kids.

"Thor! Put down the pancake, brother!"

"No, Steve stop trying to stab him with a knife!"

"Butter war!"

"Clint, no, you're not helping. Bruce, syrup is not shampoo! Stop pouring it on yours and everyone else's heads!" In the end, Loki snapped his fingers and all the pancakes, butter, and syrup disappeared, thinning out the arsenal. Natasha and Tony chucked to themselves as the boys were each dragged away from each other (well, no one dared try and drag Bruce away so he continued to cover the table in syrup while Loki grabbed Thor and Clint grabbed Steve). Once everyone calmed down, Loki followed them out to the living room, being dragged by Steve, who was grasping his hand and saying he wanted to play hide and seek. Hill, Clint, and Coulson shared a look once they were alone.

"Are we really trusting them with Loki?" Coulson asked, imagining all the ways Loki could take advantage of the situation.

"Do we really have any other options?" Clint sighed. "Plus, look at the way he's playing with them. He won't hurt them when they're kids." They began clearing the table and washing the dishes, but stopped 5 minutes later when Loki ran in, grasping Tony's hand in his.

"We can't find the other kids." Tony said quickly, looking like he was going to cry.

"What? What do you mean you can't find the others!?" Coulson yelled, causing Tony to grab onto Loki's leg.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, hiding his face. Coulson sighed and walked over, picking up the boy.

"I'm sorry I yelled Tony. Well, actually, I'm just sorry I yelled at you." He balanced the boy on his hip and turned to Loki, who actually looked a little panicked for once.

"We were playing a game called hide and seek and we looked everywhere but they are nowhere to be found."

"I'll check the vents." Clint said and climbed on top of the fridge and into the hole above it. He yelled down a few moments later. "I found Nat!" This was followed by a string of Russian words from the little girl, which Clint replied to in the same language.

"Does anyone know what they are saying?" Hill asked, looking at Loki, but Tony answered.

"She said she wanted to win the game, but Clint told her it was over so they're coming out now." As he finished, they dropped out of the ducts.

"You speak russian?" Natasha asked.

"Yes."

"Khoroshiy." (Nice). Clint answered.

"my dolzhny nayti detey." (We must find the children). Loki reminded them.

"Why do you all speak russian!?" Coulson yelled, aggravated that he didn't understand what they were saying. They probably each would have answered back with something snarky in the language, but they heard a giggle from the other room. They ran out, hoping that one of the kids had come out of hiding. They found a small boy, but unfortunately, it wasn't one of the avengers.

 **Oh no! So, all the kids except for Tony are missing and another boy is in the tower! Also, Loki is here! Sorry, gotta have me some Loki. Thanks for reading! Loki: I don't wish to be in this story. Me: You don't have a choice :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, here is the next chapter (finally). I know it's been such a long time between updates and I'm really sorry. I just hope you like this. I've hit a bit of a writer's block, but hopefully it will clear up so you guys can get the next chapter soon!

* * *

The boy had long black hair, most of it hung in his face. He was about 8, however, he was a little big, more the size of a 9 or 10 year old. He grinned at them, melting each of their hearts. He had a huge gap in between his two front teeth, and when he looked up and smiled it took over his whole face. He had light freckles and deep looking eyes. The most notable factor, however, was his arm. The fact that it was metal.

"Hi!" He shouted at them, trying to get up but tripping over the shirt that hung at his knees. "My name's Bucky! What's your name?" He successfully got up and ran over to Tony, who looked a bit shy.

"I'm Tony." The adults watched the exchange between the two in shock.

"Why is he a kid too!? I thought SHIELD caught the guy who did this!" Clint growled to the other 3.

"They did. The winter soldier must have been hit by the same blast that got you guys." Coulson answered.

"That means he was in the area, right? How did we not notice him?"

"He's a highly trained assassin, if he doesn't want us to know he's there, then we don't." They watched as Tony and Bucky excitedly talked.

"Your arm is so cool!" Tony told him, opening up quickly to the nice and acentric kid.

"Really? I don't know where it came from, but I think it's like metal or something. I just woke up with it." Tony lifted up his shirt to show the other boy his arc reactor.

"Look! I woke up with this!" Bucky ran his fingers over it.

"Woah, It glows! Does it hurt?"

"No, not really. Does your arm hurt?" Bucky shrugged as Tony put his shirt back down, sticking out the metal arm so Tony could see.

"A little."

" I could probably fix that. I new connector strap, it looks a little rusted, that could be fixed, I bet I could make a new one out of a lighter metal!"

"Really? But you're just a kid! You can't do all that!"

"I' m a whole 7 years old! Plus, I'm super smart." He let go of the arm he was inspecting and let Bucky lower it. "I could fix it."

"You're so cool. We should be friends."

"This would be really cute if Barnes wasn't an assassin and Tony wasn't a miniature Iron Man." Clint commented from where they were all watching the exchange. A small voice cut through the room from the hallway.

"B-Bucky?"

"Steve!" The black haired boy ran over to the now larger boy, immediately recognizing him. "Why are you so big?!" He asked the serum enhanced boy that he remember as a little kid as they hugged.

"Why are you so small?"

"Punk."

"Jerk."

"You guys know each other?" Tony asked confused, walking over to where the reunion was taking place.

"Yeah, me and Bucky are best friends!"

"I thought I was your best friend." Tony said, just above a whisper.

"Yeah, but I've known Bucky forever! We do all kinds of stuff together." Steve replied passively, not looking away from Bucky and almost ignoring Tony completely.

"We're the closest pals ever!" Bucky added, laughing as Steve grabbed his hand and drug him over to the watching adults.

"Guys, this is Bucky!"

"Nice to meet you kiddo." Clint said, kneeling and shaking the boy's non-metal hand. "Do you happen to know how you got here?"

"I dunno. I went to bed last night and then woke up yesterday under this tree by this field. I saw you guys and recognized Stevie, so I followed you guys into the airplane thingy and then you guys went to that white room with all the beds and stuff and I hid in the vents. Then you got off and went into this place and so I followed you here too and I've been exploring."

"You've been with us this entire time?!" Coulson asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it was fun!"

"Did you get to see the labs?" Tony asked, but Bucky didn't get to answer because Steve grabbed his arm again.

"C'mon Buck! I have to introduce you to the other kids!"

"Can I come too?" Tony asked as the two ran back down the hall, laughing.

"He knows where the other kids are, let's go!" Clint asked and the adults all chased the boys, leaving Tony alone in the large room.

"I guess I'll just wait here….." Tony said disappointedly to himself as he climbed onto the sofa. "All alone…"

"You're not alone." Tony gasped and looked around the room for where the voice had one from.

"Bruce!?" He climbed out from behind a small bookshelf.

"Yeah, this game is getting boring. I don't wanna play anymore."

"You're a good hider! We couldn't find you anywhere!" Bruce climbed up on the sofa with him.

"I don't like to hide. It's lonely."

"Apparently not hiding is lonely too." Tony said sadly, looking over to the hallway where all the others had left him.

"But I'm here too, so you're not alone."

"That means when you were hiding you weren't alone either, we were all in the room."

"Yeah…..but I still felt lonely. I feel lonely a lot. You don't have to be alone to feel lonely." Bruce stated looking at his hands.

"Lonely is not being alone, but it's the feeling that no one cares.'" Bruce nodded slowly at Tony's words. He let out a little gasp when Tony hugged him tightly. "I care."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're a really great friend. The others care about you too. Nat and Clint, Thor, Steve, even the adults."

"They care about you too." Tony didn't say anything back.

"Can we go get ice cream!?" The boys heard from behind them. They turned around to see the others all walking into the room. Apparently, they had all been found.

"Yes, but after we find- oh Bruce! There you are!" Hill noticed the kids on the sofa.

"Yeah, Tony found me." Thor ran over and gave Bruce a big hug.

"We should go get victory ice cream!" Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and even Natasha, who was starting to warm up to them, cried out 'Yeah!' and Tony and Bruce hopped off the sofa.

"Alright, let's go!" Clint shouted, racing the kids over to the elevator. Tony trailed behind with the remaining adults, not everyone would fit in the elevator. The first group went, then they got in.

"So, Tony, what kind of ice cream are you going to get?"

"I like chocolate ice cream, sir." He told Coulson. "Are we all going to become adults again?"

"That is what I am working on. Soon, you will all be back to normal." Loki answered as the elevator beeped, reaching the ground floor.

"Me and Bucky are sitting in the car together!"

"It's 'Bucky and I'." Tony mumbled, but nobody heard. They all started walking over to the door that led to the extensive garage to the side of the tower. They opened the door and Clint found the biggest car he could in order to fit them all. It was a large blue van.

"Natasha, sit next to us!" Bucky shouted as the three of them headed to the back of the car.

"My brother, Bruce, and I shall occupy the middle row!" Thor shouted, grabbing Loki and Bruce's hands and pulling them into the car.

"I'm driving." Coulson stated, walking around the car to get into the seat behind the wheel.

"Shotgun." Hill said, causing Clint to curse and hop into the car.

"Alright, that leaves you and me, Tones."

"I wanna sit with Clint." Natasha complained from the back.

"Yeah! There are four seats back here! Come on, Clint!" Steve joined in.

'Sorry guys, but I'm sitting with Tony."

"No, that's alright. You can go." Tony said, putting on a fake smile.

"See! He said it's fine! Come on!" Bucky yelled, bouncing on the seat. Clint put a hand on Tony's head as he headed back to claim his new seat.

"Thanks kid." The entire car ride everyone could hear giggles and laughter from the back row. The middle row was relatively quiet, except that Bruce kept asking the two asgardians random questions, such as how far away the moon was and what color eyes everyone had. Tony sat quietly alone in the front row, playing with a small illusion of a hamster Loki had given him to occupy himself. When they reached the ice cream parlor they received some strange looks, mostly because they were a large group and were all, except for Tony and Bucky (who had been given a captain america shirt and tan shorts), were wearing the same clothes. Also, one of them had a metal arm. The boys and Natasha ran up to the counter.

"Hi guys, my name's Freddy. Welcome to Scoopies. What would you like?"

"Oldest first!" Thor shouted.

"Alright then, I'll have vanilla chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles in a cone." Clint said with a devious grin from where he was standing behind the children.

"Strawberrie! I wish to have the rainbow sprinkles too! In a cup, however." Thor shouted.

"Cookie dough. In a cone." Natasha ordered.

"Chocolate! And Vanilla! And brownies on top and chocolate syrup!" Steve said, jumping up in excitement.

"I'll have what he's having!" Bucky said from the side of Steve, equally as excited.

"I'd like chocolate ice cream please. In a cone, sir." Tony added quietly.

"I want what Thor got." Bruce said, grabbing the young gods hand.

"Alright, coming right up, guys." They all waited in anticipation as they watched the boy scoop each of their choices.

"Thanks!"

"Thank you mortal!"

"Thanks!"

"Yes! I love ice cream!"

"Say thanks, punk."

"Oh, right, thanks!"

"Thanks!"

"Thank you sir."

"Thank you!" They each walked over to the benches outside the store, balancing the cups or cones in their hands. Balancing, that is, until Steve tripped. His large cone broke on the ground, shattering into pieces, sending splatters of chocolate ice cream and brownie bits everywhere.

"M-my ice cream." He said quietly, about to start crying on the floor. Tony was about to run over and offer his his ice cream, but Bucky beat him to it.

"That's okay, punk. You can have mine."

"Really? But then you won't have any!"

"That's okay, I wasn't really in the mood for ice cream anyway." Bucky helped him up and handed him the messy cone.

"Thanks, Bucky, this is why you're my best friend." Tony looked at them sadly as they walked cautiously over to the bench, careful not to drop the second ice cream. Natasha slid onto the bench next to Bucky

"Can I be your best friend too?"

"Sorry Tasha," Steve said while licking his ice cream, "You can only have one best friend."

"I'll be your best girl friend."

"Ew! You mean like dating!?"

"No! Gross, just your best friend that's a girl. He's your best friend that's a boy, I'll be your best friend that's a girl."

"Oh, okay. I guess that works. We can be the three amigos!" They laughed and Bucky, who was in the middle, slung an arm around each of them. Tony looked around. He walked over to Hill, Coulson, and Clint, who were sitting on another bench near by.

"Would one of you like my ice cream?"

"Why Tony? Don't you want it?" Clint asked, finishing up his own.

"No, I don't really want it anymore. Sorry."

"That's alright." Hill said. "I'll take it. Thanks." He handed her the ice cream and went to go sit down on the bench with Thor, Bruce, and Loki.

"Can I sit with you guys?"

"Yeah!" Bruce said. "I was just asking Loki about how the whole magic thing works."

"Cool." Tony listened to them question each other, but he wasn't really paying attention. Natasha was his first friend. Now, she liked Steve and Bucky more. Clint was a big adult now, and he probably liked them better too. Bruce liked Thor more than him. Steve was originally mean to him, but they had become friends. They were supposed to be best friends. Bucky was nice to him, too, when he first arrived. He looked over at the 'three amigos' laughing with each other. It was getting close to lunch time, so after they all finished their ice cream, they stopped by a small corner restaurant in the area. They all sat down. The order went Clint, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Loki, Thor, Bruce, Tony, Hill, Coulson. The waiter came over to take their large order. In total they wound up with 6 orders of fries, 5 hamburgers, 4 sprites, 3 salads, 4 chicken tender platters, and 5 juices. They all waited patiently, most of the kids talking excitedly with each other, Tony just sat with a red crayon and a coloring book. Bruce looked over to see what he was drawing as the food arrived.

"Woah, what's that?" He asked, grabbing the paper and looking at what seemed to be an equation .

"Oh, um...it's an algorithm." Bruce looked at him confused, then turned back to the paper.

"What does it say?"

"It doesn't say anything. It's like a math problem, to help figure out things."

"Well, what's it helping you figure out?" He asked, placing the paper back on the table.

"What made Clint an adult again." Hill, who had been listening to their conversation, looked over.

"Wait, what? Tony, can I see?"

"Umm, yes ma'am." He answered, handing her the paper. She looked over it.

"Coulson, look at this." She showed him the paper too.

"Wow, that's really impressive, kid."

"Yeah, but it's not right. I can't figure it out." He said, pouting a little and looking disappointed.

"That's because it's magic." Loki told them blatantly, not looking up from where Thor was telling him something. The food was passed around and everyone dug in.

"I hate magic." Tony stated, causing all the adults with memories to smile. The older version of Tony had said that phrase numerous times after dealing with situations much like this one. They were all laughing and eating, but stopped as a small voice came from behind Steve.

"Are you the Avengers? Why are you all kids?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Guys, I am SO sorry! It's been so long, I know. I'm a horrible person and this chapter isn't even that good. Writer's block is horrible. Well, I've kept you waiting long enough, so here is my sorry excuse for a chapter.**

Steve was the first one to say something.

"Who are the Avengers?"

"Superheroes. I heard you talking. That's Tony Stark, and that's Black Widow, she's the coolest, and Thor and Bruce, and you're Hawkeye, but you're an adult and so is Loki." The small blond girl pointed to each of them as she said their names. "And you! You're Steve Rogers!"

"What do you mean he's Steve Rogers?" Tony said, looking up accusingly. Is was the first threatening thing they had seen from the boy.

"He's Captain America? Cool!" Bruce shouted, very excited that he had been living with a superhero this entire time.

"He can't be. Captain America's dead." Tony growled, his voice getting a bit louder.

"That's what everyone thought, but they found him, in the ice! It was so cool! He survived after all that and now he's a hero again and he saved the world with the Avengers, which is you guys!"

"They found him? He's Captain America?" Tony said to himself quietly.

"I don't get it. I'm not a superhero." Steve told the girl, tilting his head a bit in confusion.

"But you will be. You're the biggest awesomest superhero to ever exist, beside Black Widow. Even better than Iron Man."

"I think that's enough. They aren't superheroes, they're just normal kids." Coulson said, eager to get the girl to stop giving away information to the de aged Avengers.

"Then why are they hanging out with Hawkeye and Loki and why do they have the same exact names of the superheroes and I've seen pictures of Steve and Tony when they were kids and they look like them too." she replied matter of factly all in one breath.

"We're not superheroes, go away!" Everyone, surprised, turned to look at the aggressive face of Tony.

"You are too superheroes and I'm going to tell my mom and she's going to tell the news people and you'll be everywhere and it will be so cool because you guys are kids like me now!"

"You can't. I'll sue you. I'll blow you up! I'll rob all your money and you'll be poor!" Tony screamed at her, getting down from his chair and walking over to her. To give the girl credit, she stood her ground.

"You can't. You're just a kid version of Tony Stark, you're not even that smart yet!"

"I am too smart, my dad made me study everything!" Neither of them spoke, just glared at each other, the girl standing a good foot above Tony, but he still wasn't scared. By now, everyone in the restaurant had started to look at them. Unfortunately, someone had heard the whole conversation and had called the news station to let them know of this rare occurrence, and as the girl broke away from the stare, tears forming in her scared eyes from Tony's angry eyes, the front door of the restaurant opened and a handful of reporters walked in.

"Is it true that you are the Avengers as kids?" One of them asked, holding a microphone out to Tony.

"No," he replied calmly, surprising everyone who had been watching. "There was just some girl who liked making things up. My family and I were just eating a nice lunch when she came over and started going off about how my brother, Mike, looked like Steve Rogers, right Mike?" Steve hopped down from the chair, playing along.

"Yeah, she was just a little confused is all."

"So, you are telling me that you are not the kid version of Tony Stark?" Another reporter asked.

"Me? Tony Stark?" He laughed, "I wish! That would be so cool! I did go as him for Halloween last year, though." The reporter sighed.

"And you're trying to tell me that that's not Hawkeye and Loki."

"That's crazy! He's my uncle Pat and that's our neighbor, Eugene." 'Uncle Pat' glared at them, putting a hand on Thor's head, while Eugene scoffed at his name. That was even worse than bird brain.

"If you wouldn't mind, we were just about to start eating." Tony added politely as the reporters stared them down.

"Yeah, whatever, kid." As soon as the reporters walked out of the door, Tony took a big step away from Steve, scrunching his shoulders and making himself as small as possible. Steve tried to move closer to him, but he pulled away again.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Clint asked, standing up and walking over to him. The small boy looked up at him with tears in his eyes.

"Is he really Captain America?" The adults didn't know what to say. "You said he was Battle Boy! You lied to me!" The boy looked at them with frantic eyes before suddenly bolting away from the table and out the front door of the restaurant. The others followed closely behind, but by the time they made it out to the streets, Tony was gone. Missing in the wave of New Yorkers.

"Oh man." Clint gulped. The others could only nod in agreement. Tony Stark, as a child, who had already been kidnapped once already, had runaway.

'Oh man' indeed.

 **Well, I tried. I know I don't deserve it, but if you guys could pretty please review I would be incredibly happy. Even if it's just to say 'It's Okay', I would give awesome virtual hugs (not really, stranger danger), so pleeeaase?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys...please don't kill me. I know I haven't updated any of my stories in forever and I'm really sorry. I don't have any excuse except that I got Netflix and it ruined my life. Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer, here's chapter 5!**

Chapter 5

"Where are you going?" Steve asked, hopping off the sofa and starting to follow Clint to the elevator. The archer, who was in full battle gear, stopped and turned around to look at the boy, sighing.

"I'm going to find Tony, go wait over there, Peter will be here any minute to watch you guys." Steve glared at him.

"I want to help too!"

"Sorry, buddy, go sit down." Clint's voice was strained, trying to stay calm. Things were aggravating enough without a little Captain America asking about his every move and refusing to behave.

"No." Steve replied, walking towards the elevator. Clint grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Steve, I'm going to tell you one last time. Go sit down." Steve looked him right in the eye.

"No." Clint let his arm go and walked away.

"Steve! Go sit down or I swear to god you will never see Tony again!" As he reached the elevator he realised that that had been a little rough. He turned around to see the boy still standing there, seemingly unfazed.

"No." Clint groaned dramatically, trying to relieve the tension. He even smirked a little.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" He finally got into the elevator.

"Does that mean I can come?" The elevator closed as Clint smiled.

"No." Steve sighed and walked back over to the sofa where the other kids were waiting impatiently.

"We have to find Tony." He told them.

"But they said not to." Bruce complained. "We'll get in trouble if we leave."

"Our friend is out there, guys! What if he's hurt? What if he's scared and all alone?" Steve argued with them.

"Steve, I think we should stay here." Bucky told him and surprisingly everyone else nodded their heads.

"Fine!" The opposing boy yelled, stomping a foot and turning on his heel. "I'll just go by myself then!" Ignoring the others, who were calling his name, he got into the elevator and pressed the button that took him to the first floor.

He easily snuck out of the tower, with all the SHIELD agents in the lobby you would think they would have noticed a small boy racing out the front door, but they were all so occupied with finding Tony that they didn't even see him.

Once Steve got outside, however, he realised he had no clue where to even start looking. He decided to pick a direction and just keep walking, that way he would easily be able to find his way home and not get lost too.

He walked down the street, ducking into alleys when he saw a SHIELD agent, and eventually made it into a dimly lit street.

To be honest, he was a little bit scared. Okay, more than a little bit. This didn't look anything like it did just last week when he and Bucky were racing home from school. Everything was so different, there were lights everywhere, yelling, it was way dirtier. It almost made him want to back to the tower.

However, he knew Tony was somewhere out there on the streets, too, and he was probably just as scared. So, Steve kept walking. The alley, though, kept getting darker and dirtier. Soon, it was almost too dark to see. He was about to turn around and head back to the tower, he wasn't helping anyway, when he heard a sniffle. It had come from just around the corner and Steve ran forward, abandoning all worry he had before about the dark and focusing on one single thing: finding Tony. A grin spread across his face as he saw the long dark hair of his friend.

"Tony!" Tony looked up from his position on the ground. He had his knees hugged to his chest and his back against a graffitied wall.

"Steve?" The boy replied back, more surprised than anything. "How did you find me?" He stood up, anger now creeping into his voice. "No, I don't care, just leave me alone!" He began to run off, but Steve grabbed his arm.

"Tony, wait." Surprisingly, the younger boy stopped struggling and turned to him with teary eyes.

"What? Are you going to make fun of me again, _Captain America._ " He spat and Steve looked him in the eyes, confused.

"What do you mean? Why would I make fun of you?"

"Well, you did it before! Calling me a nerd, calling me stupid!" The blond haired kid looked back at the moment.

"I wasn't trying to be mean, I'm sorry. That's just...that's how I treat people I want to be friends with. No one has ever wanted to hang out with me before, I'm annoying and all, I know, so the only friend I ever really had was Bucky. Bucky and me always used to tease each other-"

"Bucky and I." Tony interrupted, no emotion in his voice.

"What?"

"You said 'Bucky and me', use proper grammar, it would be 'Bucky and I'." Steve stared at him.

"Um, okay? _Bucky and I_ always tease each other, I thought that's just how friends acted to each other."

"Are we, then?"

"Are we what?"

"Friends?" Steve laughed a little bit.

"I hope so….I mean, I would like to be." It was silent for a moment.

"But you don't like me as much as Bucky." He said this so defeatedly that it made Steve want to pull him into a hug.

"It's not like that! It's not that I like him any more than you, it's just I've known him longer." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "See, this whole thing is so weird. One minute, I'm in the year 1929. Next minute, I'm here, in 2000 something-"

"2016."

"Yeah, well, things are really strange here-"

"Not strange. Not weird. Just different. I know you said earlier you were scared of change, but there's nothing really to be scared of. Change is really good, I would love a good change from everything, something that shaped my future. I mean, look at you! You become Captain America! I'm sure that included a lot of change, but you turned out pretty amazing. Arthur Rubinstein said "Of course there is no formula for success except, perhaps, an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings." You should just accept that things are going to come and things are going to go, but that doesn't mean it's bad, or scary. It's just change." Steve looked at him in a mixture of awe and surprise.

"Why do you quote so much? And don't just answer with a quote!" He said quickly and Tony shrugged.

"If I quote what someone else says, they can't say it's stupid, or yell at me for saying something wrong, because they aren't my words."

"Do a lot of people do that?" Steve asked. "Tell you that what you say is stupid?" Tony hesitated then nodded. "Well then, they're stupid! You're the smartest kid I've ever met, Tony. Honestly. I don't know many quotes, but what I do know is that there aren't a lot of smart people out there, so the brains you have are really important. You shouldn't let people put you down like that. You can stand up to them. When bullies and adults and the whole world, all of them, are telling you to move, you put your feet down on the ground, look them right in the eyeballs and stuff, and say "No, you move."" He snickered a bit. "I probably could have phrased that a little better, but you get the point." Tony nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I get it." He scoffed his foot across the ground a bit. "So, we're friends?"

"Of course we are! Captain America and...what was your superhero name again?"

"Iron Man."

"Captain America and Iron Man, best buds forever!"

 **Alright, I will try to update as soon as possible, but my sophomore year of highschool is going to be starting soon, so no promises...reviews may speed up the progress though, just saying.**


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